Star Trek: Timeline- Season One
by Cortana Hansen
Summary: Enterprise NX-01 and the U.S.S. Crisis, two ships from two different points in time, in two different timelines, end up stranded in the mid-twentieth century. Two crews, two captains, two timelines. What could possibly go wrong?- Sequel to "Star Trek: Anomaly," located in the category "Star Trek: Voyager."- On temporary hiatus
1. Episode I: Pilot

**Here's the first episode of _Star Trek: Timeline_** ** _._ No flames please! :) This takes place in an alternate timeline, so the _Enterprise_ episode "These Are the Voyages" isn't considered canon in this alternate timeline. All episodes prior are considered canon.**

 **Also, this is a sort of sequel to _Star Trek: Anomaly._ I never originally intended for this, but since I involved so many elements of _Star Trek: Enterprise_ in the novel, it seemed natural to me to tie the two together. I've been working on this story for a while now, and I'm glad to have it finished. And this story is a little corny, I warn you.**

 **Here we go!**

. . .

 _Episode I: Pilot_

 _"Captain's Star Log: May 6th, 2156,_

 _"Commander Shran and Jhamel have requested to have their wedding occur on Enterprise during our mission. I don't know why. I don't plan on asking. Anyway, we picked them up just yesterday, and things have been going smoothly. Aside from some strange turbulence and Commander Tucker stumbling into Sickbay, drunk and swinging around a bottle of Andorian ale while singing a drinking song. Phlox was not amused._

 _"The wedding will be conducted in a week. Hopefully Trip can pull himself together by then. Note to self: keep him away from Andorian ale._

 _"End log."_

Captain Archer leaned back in his chair and sighed. The door to his office beeped.

"Enter," Archer called. The door slid open and T'Pol stepped in, hands clasped behind her back.

"Is there something wrong, T'Pol?" Archer asked.

"Captain, a strange anomaly just appeared approximately twenty kilometres off our starboard bow," T'Pol says. Archer stood up and followed T'Pol out of his office. He walked over to the Captain's chair and sat down. The ship was on Tactical Alert.

"What do our scans say?" Archer asked.

T'Pol studied the console a moment. "I'm detecting high amounts of chroniton radiation." She paused, then continued, "Odd. The anomaly seems to be following us."

"On screen," Archer ordered. An image of the anomaly appeared on the viewscreen. It was glowing bright yellow, with a soft green light around the edges.

"It's gaining on us," T'Pol reported. "It's now eighteen kilometres away. No. Make that sixteen."

"Orders, sir?" Malcolm asked, looking up worriedly from his console.

"Travis, change our course by ninety degrees, away from the anomaly. Maximum warp," Archer ordered.

Travis put in the course and _Enterprise_ altered its direction. The ship began to speed up.

"The anomaly is changing course!" T'Pol exclaimed. "It's now on our port side. It's increasing speed. It's now fourteen kilometers away... twelve... seven..." T'Pol stopped speaking.

"T'Pol?" Archer addressed.

"We are now inside the anomaly," T'Pol said finally. "Captain... this... shouldn't be possible. There isn't just chroniton radiation in here. There is radiation of all different wavelengths. If we stay here, we will die from exposure."

"How long do we have?" Archer asked.

"At this rate?" T'Pol asked. "Twelve hours. Any further exposure will be fatal to all of us."

. . .

 _The mess hall..._

"We're in an anomaly?" Shran repeated. He, Jhamel, and Hoshi were sitting together in the mess hall when _Enterprise_ got stuck in the anomaly. Then Ensign Weymire came rushing in, jabbering that she had heard from the Captain that they had been trapped in an anomaly.

Naturally, Weymire felt inclined to sit down uninvited and explain further. "Yeah!" She said. "I heard the Captain explicitly say we got stuck in an anomaly. He says we have to be out in twelve hours! Or we'll all die!"

"Remind me," Shran murmured to Jhamel, "that if we survive this, we are not to have our honeymoon here."

"Hey!" Hoshi retorted. "I heard that!"

"I'm sorry," Shran replied sarcastically. "I didn't mean to hurt your pink-skin feelings."

"Shran!" Jhamel glared at her betrothed. Then she looked at Hoshi. "I'm sorry. We're all under a lot of stress right now."

"I understand," Hoshi responded. Then she looked at Weymire. "We should probably head to the bridge."

Weymire nodded. "See you later, love birds."

"Love birds?" Shran and Jhamel repeated simultaneously. Then Jhamel asked, "What are 'love birds?'"

Hoshi and Weymire started laughing. Under the circumstances, it's either laugh at stuff like that, or be scared out of one's wits. Hoshi told them, "It's an expression that... never mind. We have to go. I'll explain later."

Then the two Starfleet officers ran off. Shran and Jhamel just sat there, unsure of what to do. Finally Shran said, "Maybe I should head to the bridge too. I might be able to offer my services."

Jhamel nodded. "I'll come too."

"But-"

"No buts, Thy'lek. I'm going with you," Jhamel said firmly.

"Oh, fine!" Shran exclaimed. "We'll both go."

. . .

 _In Engineering..._

Trip frowned when he saw the readings. "You're sure? That the antimatter injectors are empty?"

"I'm not joking, Commander," Ensign Nimoy replied. She showed him the scanner again. "The readings don't lie. Unless the anomaly is screwing around with this scanner. Which is possible, but without closer inspection..."

"Well then, let's do that closer inspection," Trip said.

"We can't, sir."

"Why not?"

"There's some strange energy field surrounding the injectors."

"A what?" Trip asked. Then he shook his head and raised his hand. "You're saying... that there's an _energy field_ surrounding the antimatter injectors?"

"Yes, sir," Ensign Nimoy replied. "Orders?"

Trip thought a moment. "Well, scan the energy field, obviously. Find out whatever you can about it. There might be some way to disable it."

Ensign Nimoy nodded and said, "I'll get right on it, sir."

"See that you do." Trip walked over to the comm in Engineering. He pressed a button and said, "Tucker to the bridge."

"Yes?" came Captain Archer's voice.

"Cap'n, I could use T'Pol's help down here," Trip responded. "You think you might be able to spare her for a bit?"

A pause. Then Archer replied, "You'll have to wait, Trip, but we might be able to spare her in a moment or two."

"Thanks, Cap'n." Trip felt like this was the best good news since the incident in Sickbay. It wasn't huge, but it was something. "Tucker out."

However, the feeling was short-lived. Ensign Nimoy came back, scanner in hand. "Sir?"

Trip turned around. "Yes?"

"The energy field has expanded by ten inches."

"Expanded?!"

"Yes, sir."

"Damn," Trip muttered. He pressed the button on the ship's comm. "Tucker to the bridge."

"Yes, Trip?" Archer asked.

"We've got a problem," Trip told him. "There's an energy field surrounding the antimatter injectors. It sucked out all the antimatter. And the field seems to be expanding."

"Have T'Pol check it out as soon as she's available," Archer ordered. "Archer out."

. . .

 _In Sickbay..._

Phlox frowned as he scanned Lieutenant Karie Zimmerman, who was sitting on a biobed. "Hm... I'm getting an odd reading from your neural synaptic pathways."

"I just said I had a headache," Karie told him, rubbing her forehead. "Are you saying there's something wrong with me?"

"I won't know for certain until I take a more detailed scan," Phlox told her. "Lay down on the biobed. I'm going to take a look at the biofunction monitor."

Karie lay down on the biobed and sighed as Phlox studied the monitor. A few moments passed. Finally, after about ten minutes, Karie asked, "Well?"

"It seems as though your neural pathways are starting to decay," Phlox told her. "It looks as though it's being caused by the radiation from the anomaly."

"Am I going to die?" Karie asked.

"Hm?" Phlox looked at her. "If we can stop the degradation soon, and repair the damage, I don't think so."

"That's good," Karie remarked with relief.

"We'll have to-" Phlox was interrupted by Ensign Weymire, who just entered Sickbay.

"Ohh..." She clutched her forehead tightly. "My head hurts."

"Oh dear," Phlox murmured. "This is not good."

. . .

 _On the bridge..._

"Captain!" T'Pol exclaimed. "The anomaly is moving away from us!" She was right. On the viewscreen, everyone could see the anomaly moving off.

Captain Archer stood up from his chair, a puzzled expression on his face. "Is it just me... or are the stars different?"

Travis took a look at their navigational data. "Yeah... they are. That star, the Orion's Heart, shouldn't be a nebula."

"You mean we've gone back in time?" Archer asked. Travis nodded.

"Looks that way," Travis replied, looking at Archer. Then he looked back at the data. "We're about two hundred years into the past."

"The mid twentieth century," Reed murmured. "My god. What have we gotten ourselves into?"

T'Pol frowned slightly. "Obviously we have gone back in time. The most logical course of action would be to find a way back to our time."

"Well, I'm sure Daniels will help us, whenever he decides to show," Archer said sarcastically. "Full stop. We're not going anywhere until we figure out what exactly that anomaly did to bring us here."

. . .

 _Location unknown..._

Two figures stood in a dark room, watching these events unfold on a screen.

"Archer certainly has resilience," one figure remarked. "But it is foolish."

"Not necessarily," the other figure countered. "There are other temporal anomalies in the galaxy. If they find them-"

"They won't!" the first figure interrupted. "Is the device ready to launch?"

"Yes."

"Good. With _Enterprise_ out of the way, we can accomplish our objective to continue what Catari started."

"But what if the conduit fails?"

The first figure glared at his companion. "It won't fail. We will succeed."

"E-er, yes sir," the second figure replied hastily. "How ridiculous of me."

"Long live the Hirogen," the first figure growled out, still glaring.

"Long live the Hirogen!" the second figure repeated.

. . .

 _"Captain's Star Log Supplemental,_

 _"We're stranded in the mid twentieth century. Phlox has had to perform brain surgery on several crewmen, Trip is having problems with the antimatter injectors, and Shran is complaining about how stupid we 'pink-skins' are for getting him and his fiance in this mess. It's getting annoying._

 _"Right now I'm wondering when the hell Daniels is going to show up. I wonder if he's laughing at us right now... Probably is. T'Pol helped Trip scan the energy field before it dissipated. It was made of a strange type of theoretical matter the Vulcans call Tuvar's Formula. T'Pol is back on the bridge now, analysing the data._

 _"End log."_

Just as Archer finished his log, the door to his office beeped.

"Enter," Archer called.

T'Pol stepped in. "We've detected a large vessel approximately seven kilometres away."

Archer followed T'Pol out of his office. "Put the vessel on screen."

The ship appeared on the viewscreen. It was a bit similar to _Enterprise_ in configuration, but seemed much more advanced.

"I wonder if they ran into the same problem we did," Archer thought aloud. "Hail them."

Within moments, the other ship responded. On the viewscreen appeared the face of a female Andorian wearing a very strange uniform.

"This is the Starship _Enterprise._ Who are you?" Archer demanded.

"This is... this is... the Federation Starship _Crisis,"_ the Andorian stammered anxiously. "It's... we're in a pickle. How may we be of assistance?"

Archer stared at her. So did everyone else.

"Did you pink-skins just go deaf?" The Andorian asked, regaining her confidence. "Hm?"

Archer finally spoke. "I'm just finding this whole situation very hard to believe."

"It's the same on my end," the Andorian replied.

"Let's trade names," Archer said. "Then maybe we can talk more."

"I already know your name, Captain Archer," the Andorian replied. "I'll gladly tell you mine, though. I am Commander Mi'Ya Shran."

"Shran?" Archer repeated. Just then, Shran and Jhamel came onto the bridge.

Mi'Ya immediately spotted them. Her antennae twitched a bit. "Oh dear..."

Shran stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the viewscreen. "Another Andorian?"

"Yes, I'm an Andorian, you blue jackal mastiff-!" Mi'Ya was interrupted by a round of coughing. After she was finished, she said in a lower voice, "Never mind him, Archer. We're both in the same situation. We encountered a strange temporal anomaly, and now we're both stuck in the mid-twentieth century."

"How do you know we got here because of an anomaly?" Archer asked warily.

"What date was it?" Mi'Ya asked. "Before your jump back in time? The date?"

"May 6th, 2156," Archer replied. "Why?"

"Well, that explains some things," Mi'Ya murmured to herself. "May I come aboard your ship?"

Archer thought a moment. "Fine. You can bring one crewman. No tricks."

Mi'Ya's antennae twitched again. "I'm not my great grandfather, Archer. I promise, no tricks."

. . .

"I don't think that this is a good idea," Aracane told Mi'Ya as they walked to the docking bay. "What if they're imposters? Besides, the Doctor did say it would take some time to decontaminate the ship. What if-?"

"The microorganisms are likely dead by now," Mi'Ya interrupted. "And besides, the Doctor can synthesise more vaccines if necessary."

"Sorry," Aracane replied. "Paranoia doesn't leave you when the guy who supposedly needed Archer's help to end the Temporal Cold War ends up contaminating our ship."

"We don't know if Daniels was responsible," Mi'Ya told her.

"Then how do you explain the fact that the cure for the disease is in that data module?"

"They probably dealt with a similar disease. Or will deal with. I'm not about to even begin to try to understand time travel."

Aracane shrugged. "Me neither. This whole situation is a mess. I wonder what ship attacked _Enterprise..._ or will attack _Enterprise..._ great, now I've got a headache. Again."

"I wonder who that 'Porthos' Archer mentioned in the log is," Mi'Ya said. "I never read anything about him. Or her."

"Maybe he or she is a dog," Aracane joked. Mi'Ya chuckled lightly.

"Remember, pink-skin. You still owe me."

The two finally arrived at the docking bay. In a few moments, they were on Enterprise. Captain Archer stood at the entrance, a security team with him.

"So you're Commander Shran," Archer said. Then he looked at Aracane. "Who is she?"

"This is my Chief of Security, Lieutenant Aracane," Mi'Ya replied.

Archer eyed Aracane's hands, which were covered in lesions. Then he saw Mi'Ya's looked the same way. "What happened to your hands?"

"We had a... run-in with a disease of sorts," Mi'Ya told him. "Our Doctor managed to cure us before it got into its fatal stage. Most of us survived, but we lost a quarter of our crew, including our Captain."

"Oh," Archer replied. "I'm... sorry. Follow me."

. . .

 _In the mess hall..._

Mi'Ya frowned when Archer brought her and Aracane here. "Why are we here, Archer?"

"To talk," he replied. He led them to a table and said, "Have a seat."

They all sat down. Aracane scratched her itchy hands. That's when Archer noticed her ears.

"Well you're definitely not human. Or Vulcan," he said. "What species are you?"

"To tell you that would violate the Temporal Prime Directive," Aracane replied.

Archer let out a sigh. "I'm gonna guess you're from the future. I mean, you people know my name, your Captain has the same last name as Shran, and you're an alien I've never seen before. Not to mention your ship looks much more advanced than ours."

"Yes, we're from the future," Mi'Ya told him. "The twenty-fourth century."

"Twenty-fourth?" Archer raised an eyebrow. "For a moment, I thought maybe Daniels sent you."

"Daniels did use me to get some serum from a group of Vulcans," Aracane said. "Er, wait. Did I just violate the Temporal Prime Directive?"

"It doesn't matter now, really," Mi'Ya told her. "If we're going to help each other, we might as well share information. Even if it violates the Temporal Prime Directive."

"When we get back home," Aracane said, "I'll report you."

"You're still in my debt," Mi'Ya countered. Then she looked at Archer. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Archer responded, not very amused. "So you encountered the same anomaly we did?"

"Yes," Mi'Ya replied. "It stopped up our engines and surrounded us in chroniton radiation. Then next thing we know, we're in the mid-twentieth century."

"It didn't stop our engines," Archer told her.

"Maybe it stopped ours because of our new warp field," Mi'Ya said. "I'm not sure."

Archer nodded. Then he looked at Aracane. "You said you encountered Daniels? He wanted some kind of serum?"

"Yes," Aracane replied. "But I don't remember a lot. Just bits and pieces. No thanks to their tampering with my memories."

Archer rubbed his forehead, thinking all this over. "This is... is... I don't even know what to say. This is a first, that's for sure."

. . .

 _Somewhere in another part of the galaxy... in another time..._

A group of aliens sat around a large table, arguing over what they did to the ships. There were Ocampa, Hirogen, Jikeri, and even Vulcans. A pair of Klingons sat in a corner, tipping back bottles of bloodwine as everyone else argued.

"Who sent that other ship back to the same time as _Enterprise?!"_ the Ocampan leader, Yutas, shouted. His face was contorted with anger. "We could have used Aracane's help!"

"Last we heard," the leader of the Jikeri, a cloaked man, spoke, "Aracane refused to assist us."

"But she could change her mind!" Yutas argued. "She-"

"This is not for discussion!" The Hirogen leader slammed his fist on the table. "We got rid of a threat. Besides, the Klingons dealt with the matter in a not so... nonviolent manner."

Yutas turned to glare at the Klingons. "What did you do?"

"Simple, really," the Klingon to the left declared proudly. "With Calari's help, we boarded the vessel and infected it with the disease we stole from Daniels."

"But they found an alternate version of _Enterprise,"_ the Vulcan leader stated. "They found a cure for the disease in Daniels' data module."

"Then we should go back and destroy the wreckage before the _Crisis_ found it!" the Hirogen leader snarled.

Yutas stood up with a rage. "You know perfectly well that the anomalies are dangerous! Prolonged exposure to the radiation could kill us!"

"Enough!" the Jikeri leader shouted. "This council was formed because we have a common goal- destroy the Federation! Both ships are out of the way! The timeline is in our favour now! Besides, they'll be attacked in a day or so. The space they're in is crawling with hostile species."

"If we were going to send the _Crisis_ back in time like we did to _Enterprise,_ " Yutas spoke, "why infect them with a disease?"

"To ensure that neither could return," the Klingon snarled. His companion nodded in agreement.

"That has obviously failed," the Vulcan leader pointed out, "since the _Crisis_ found a cure."

"This is not for debate," the Jikeri leader said. "We must finish what the Suliban failed to do. Is the conduit ready?"

"Yes," the Hirogen leader replied.

"Then in our next meeting, we will use it to bring Calari here." The Jikeri leader brushed some dust off his cloak as he spoke. "Meeting adjourned. We will congregate again in a week. Don't be late."

. . .

 _On Enterprise... in the mess hall..._

"What do you think they're talking about?" Hoshi asked, looking over at Archer and the visitors talking. The security team stood a little ways from them, chatting.

"I haven't the faintest." Malcolm glanced over as well, then continued eating his pineapple ice cream. He chewed slowly, tasting the fruit's sweet juices. Then he swallowed. "Now that's some bloody good ice cream."

"Any guesses?" Hoshi continued, stirring her hot cocoa.

"Probably about the anomaly that brought us here," Malcolm replied, sounding slightly irritated. Shran and Jhamel suddenly approached the two.

"Hello, pink-skins!" Shran greeted, smiling pleasantly. "What do you think of our new... colleagues?"

"Ask Archer," Malcolm told them, setting down his spoon. He tossed his napkin on the table and said, "I'm needed in the Armoury."

"Your shift isn't for one hour," Hoshi pointed out.

"I'd rather lose free time," Malcolm said as he stood up, "than have this ship blow up. If you'll excuse me." He walked off without another word.

Hoshi looked up at Shran and Jhamel. "You can sit down if you like."

"Great!" Shran and Jhamel sat down eagerly. Shran looked down at Malcolm's bowl, frowning. There was still some ice cream in it.

"How are those new optical implants working?" Hoshi asked Jhamel.

"Good." Jhamel smiled. "They function perfectly."

"What's this?" Shran asked, pointing at the ice cream. Jhamel glanced at the bowl as well, wondering the same thing.

"Pineapple ice cream," Hoshi told him, raising an eyebrow. "Malcolm likes it."

Jhamel reached over and grabbed the spoon. She took a scoop of ice cream and put it in her mouth. "Mm!" She swallowed and smiled. "Wow. That's good!"

Shran looked at Jhamel. "Let me try some."

Jhamel handed him the spoon. He ate some ice cream as well. "Hm. Not bad. You said this was 'pineapple ice cream?'"

"Yes," Hoshi responded, looking annoyed. "You're not worried at all about the situation we're in, are you?"

"We are," Jhamel told her. "But we're trying to be positive about it. Besides, no one can work on an empty stomach."

"Did you ever try this?" Shran asked Hoshi while taking another bite of ice cream.

"That has germs on it." Hoshi sipped her hot cocoa after speaking.

"So?" Shran raised his eyebrow. "You pink-skins are squeamish."

"You blue-skins are over optimistic," Hoshi retorted.

Shran and Jhamel looked at each other, then burst out laughing in amusement.

"Blue-skins?!" Shran slapped his thigh as he laughed. "That's a good one!"

Hoshi set her napkin on the table. "I should go to the bridge." She set her mug in front of the laughing love birds. "Feel free to try my hot cocoa." With that, she walked away.

Meanwhile, Archer and his visitors were still discussing their recent incident.

"But how did you get the data module?" Archer asked. "I destroyed it before Silik could find it."

"Then... but that means..." Mi'Ya didn't finish.

"Maybe you somehow got your hands on another in the future," Aracane told them. "Besides, our records of the years between 2150 and 2170 were rather sketchy. Mostly because of the nature of your adventures. Mistakes often happen with things like that."

"Regardless," Mi'Ya told her, "we should be grateful we found that module. We'd probably be dead by now if we hadn't."

Aracane nodded, frowning. "But I still can't figure out who could have possibly boarded the ship and infected us with the virus without our sensors detecting them."

"Hm..." Archer rested his chin on his hands, thinking.

"What?" Aracane asked.

"You said that you had a dream before waking up in this timeline?" Archer looked at her, a light in his eyes. "You said that they, the people in the dream, wanted you to join them. Maybe those people were the ones who infected the ship."

"So they contacted me by means of telepathic communication," Aracane said. "By using my subconscious to form an interactive environment. I bet Yutas was involved. We Ocampa are naturally telepathic."

"You're telepathic?" Archer repeated. "Why am I surprised?"

"Well, my powers have deteriorated because of the disease," Aracane told him. "Unfortunately."

Suddenly a tremor ran through the ship. Mi'Ya's combadge and Archer's communicator both beeped.

"Seven to Commander Shran," Mi'Ya's combadge relayed. She tapped it and replied, "I'm here."

Meanwhile, Archer answered his communicator. "Archer here."

"A wormhole just opened about eight thousand kilometres away."

"Well, I guess we have to cut our conversation short," Archer remarked. He stood up and said, "I'll be on the bridge. And just because we both seem to be in the same situation doesn't mean I trust you yet. You stay on _Enterprise_."

"What about my ship?" Mi'Ya asked, a note of anger in her voice. She did not like being away from her ship for so long.

"I'm sure whoever you left in command is capable enough to keep it safe," Archer told Mi'Ya and Aracane. Then he turned to his Security team. "Take them to Sickbay. Have Phlox examine them."

"Examine us for what?" Aracane asked.

"To make sure you are who you say you are." Archer left it at that and exited the mess hall, on his way to the bridge.

Mi'Ya raised an eyebrow as she and Aracane stood up.

"Lead the way," Mi'Ya told the Security team.

. . .

 _On the bridge... Enterprise..._

T'Pol frowned as she studied the scans. "Strange. The wormhole seems to be expanding."

Archer came onto the bridge at that moment. "Put the wormhole on screen." An image of the wormhole appeared. It was glowing a strange red colour, and had an orange center.

"Sir!" Hoshi exclaimed, looking at her console. "I'm getting a transmission. Audio only."

"What are you waiting for?" Archer asked, sitting down in his chair. Hoshi activated the speakers.

 _"You are defiling our realm with your presence. Leave this system immediately. You are not one of us."_

"We're explorers," Archer told whoever was speaking. "We lost our way. We can send you proof. We mean no harm."

 _"This is your last warning. Leave this system immediately. You are contaminating our realm. Leave or be destroyed."_

Then the transmission ended. Archer sighed. He looked at Hoshi and said, "Contact the Crisis."

Hoshi complied. Within moments, the other ship responded. Seven of Nine's face appeared on the viewscreen.

"Yes?" she asked.

Ignoring her cybernetic implants for the time being, Archer said, "Did you receive a transmission from the wormhole."

"Yes," Seven replied, raising an eyebrow. "We were about to contact you, but you hailed first. They want us to leave the system. I presume the new anti-matter injectors are working?"

"Yes, they are. Anyway, we'll have to leave the system until we can figure out what this is all about," Archer told her. "Prepare to undock. We'll go to Warp and meet up at the edge of the system."

"We will comply," Seven simply replied. Then the transmission ended.

Hoshi looked at Archer. "You see those cybernetics?"

"Yes," Archer replied. "That's not a priority right now, though. Travis, set a course for the edge of this system. Maximum Warp."

"Yes, sir," Travis replied.

 _On the bridge of the Crisis..._

"Ensign," Seven ordered. "Set a course following _Enterprise._ Warp 4.7."

"Ma'am?" The Ensign at the helm gave her a look. "It'll take twice as long-"

"I am aware of that," Seven interrupted. "However, we still have two crewmen aboard. We do not know if this is the real _Enterprise_. For all we know, they could be imposters. Now, comply, Ensign."

"Yes, ma'am."

The ship quickly jumped to Warp.

Seven stood up from her chair. "Lieutenant Sulu, you have the bridge." With that, she walked off the bridge into the turbolift. "Holodeck." The turbolift started moving, and within a minute, Seven was on the deck for the holodecks. She walked down a corridor until she reached Holodeck One. "Computer, open doors to Holodeck One." The doors slid open and she entered.

It was Vic's place, and the man himself, Vic Fontaine, was busy singing a song.

Seven sat down at a table and listened. Vic was singing "Faith of the Heart".

The song ended in a few minutes. The holodeck characters started clapping. After a moment, Seven started as well. Vic took a bow and smiled.

"Thank you, thank you!" Vic said, bowing again. "Hope y'all had a great night, gentlemen and gals. I'll be seein' ya tomorrow night, right?"

Seven frowned, then said, "Computer, deactivate all holodeck characters except for Vic Fontaine."

Every holodeck character except Vic disappeared promptly.

Vic immediately saw Seven and gave her a glare. "You gotta be kidding me. Best night in a while and of course somebody's got to spoil it."

"My apologies," Seven told him. "I need to speak with you."

Vic let out a huff. "Oh, fine." He set his microphone in its stand and stepped down from stage. Then he walked over to Seven. "What's the problem?"

"We've been stranded about four hundred years into the past," Seven told him. Vic raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, the Doc told me a few hours ago," Vic replied. "Other than the fact that this is the time period my program is based on, I don't see the point."

"I need advice," Seven told him. "We encountered the _Enterprise NX-01-"_

"The Doc told me that too."

"Let me finish, please. While the ship and crew so far seem genuine, I am still skeptical."

Vic crossed his arms over the back of a chair and leaned against it as he thought. "And?"

"Am I jumping to conclusions in thinking that they may be imposters?" Seven asked, quickly.

Vic sighed. "I don't know why you're comin' to me for advice. I ain't the one commandin' this ship."

Seven frowned. She rested her chin on her hands. "I do not know why I'm asking, either."

"Personally," Vic said, "I'd say they're innocent till proven guilty."

"You mean I should assume that they are who they say they are," Seven replied, "for the time being..."

"Exactly," Vic told her. "Just think of a courtroom. You're the jury. _Enterprise_ is the accused. You need to look at the evidence before decidin' on anythin'."

. . .

 _On Enterprise... the bridge..._

"You're sure, Phlox?" Archer asked over the ship's comm.

"DNA doesn't lie," Phlox told him. "Mi'Ya Shran is definitely Commander Shran's descendant. As for her colleague, her physiology doesn't match any species I've seen."

"Thanks, Phlox," Archer replied. He deactivated the comm and sighed.

"Something wrong, sir?" Malcolm asked.

"I don't know," Archer said. "This is a lot to take in. And that's saying a lot, considering what it's been like since we left space dock."

"It is logical to assume that they are who they say they are," T'Pol told him, "until proven otherwise."

"I know. It's just... I... I don't know." Archer shook his head. "Maybe I need a break. I'll be in my quarters if you need me."

T'Pol nodded as Archer stood up and left the bridge. Within a few minutes, Archer was in his quarters, sitting on his bed in the dark. He didn't want the lights on right now. Porthos jumped up next to him. He pawed his leg for attention. Archer reached over and stroked his beagle's soft, velvety fur.

"Hello, Jonathan," a voice greeted in the darkness. Archer quickly reached for the wall and turned on a switch. The lights came on. Leaning against a wall not even two feet away was Daniels.

"Daniels." Archer gave him a glare. "I thought I told you last time we met to leave me and my ship alone."

"I know," Daniels replied, crossing his arms. "But this situation is different. I didn't bring you here."

"And why should I believe you?" Archer asked, stroking Porthos once more. The little dog laid his head on Archer's knee and wagged his tail.

"The people who brought you here," Daniels told him, "are working for a being named Calari. He's the one who commanded the Suliban faction before the Temporal Cold War ended."

"Why here?" Archer raised an eyebrow as he spoke. "And why bring the _Crisis_ here?"

"They needed you both to be out of the way," Daniels told him.

"Well then," Archer said, "send us back."

"We can't," Daniels replied. "Something is wrong with our transporters. At first we thought it was a simple malfunction, but it's become widespread. It has to do with what Calari is doing to the timeline. I had to transport three times just to get here. I was nearly burned alive by a group of superstitious English peasants from the 1450's! If we try to bring you back, we could easily end up accidentally sending you into the center of the universe. Which isn't very hospitable."

"How are you going to get back?" Archer asked, after a moment.

"I can't," Daniels told him. "By now, the future I come from probably doesn't exist anymore. So until we stop Calari, you're stuck with me."

Archer let out a groan. "As if things weren't bad enough already. Besides, what can we do? We're stuck in the mid-twentieth century!"

"That's why I brought this," Daniels told him, showing him a data module.

Archer's eyes fixed on it immediately. "That Mi'Ya Shran said she and her crew found a data module on another _Enterprise."_

Daniels nodded. "Lucky for them they found it. This data module has the locations of all the temporal anomalies in the galaxy. If we can find the right one, we can travel to the time when we need to stop Calari."

"What's keeping us from being erased from history right now?" Archer asked.

Daniels shrugged. "Even in the 31st century, we don't understand everything about time travel." He activated the data module and holographic images flooded the room. One image was magnified after a moment. It was a wormhole.

"That's the wormhole we just encountered earlier," Archer pointed out.

"Yes," Daniels replied. "It's the nearest temporal anomaly in the area. The second closest is a thousand light-years away."

"But the wormhole doesn't exactly seem to be deserted," Archer pointed out.

Daniels nodded in agreement. "A species of noncoporeal beings reside there. There are other wormholes in the galaxy that are home to that species. There was one wormhole in particular that is such a place. It was located near a planet called Bajor. Bajor's inhabitants called these beings ' the Prophets.' Most of them, anyway."

"Most of them?" Archer repeated.

"You know I've already violated the Temporal Prime Directive in telling you this," Daniels said.

"Daniels, if we're going to get out of this," Archer told him, "there can't be any secrets."

"I know." Daniels sighed, and continued, "Some of these beings were called 'the Pah-Wraiths. Those were the beings you just encountered. Most of the Pah-Wraiths were banished into the Fire Caves of Bajor. But a few escaped. They lost most of their powers in the process and have been hiding in this wormhole ever since. It was sometime in 2235 when the wormhole collapsed for unknown reasons."

"I'm gonna guess that they're still incredibly dangerous," Archer said, "and that you have some crazy scheme to help us get past."

"I have an idea," Daniels replied.

. . .

 _In the ready room of the Crisis..._

Archer and Mi'Ya stood side by side in the room in front of the table where the senior officers of both ships were sitting.

"We called this meeting," Mi'Ya began, "to discuss the plan that Daniels has given us to get through the wormhole. Daniels, please begin your presentation."

Daniels stood up and walked over to a console on the wall. At the press of a button, a diagram appeared of the _Enterprise_ and the _Crisis_ in front of the wormhole. Daniels turned to the senior officers and began speaking.

"I have a plan for us to get through the wormhole safely. By flooding the wormhole with chroniton radiation, we should be able to drive out the Pah-Wraiths for a time, allowing both ships to pass through. However, the problem is not only producing the chroniton particles in the first place, but also keeping them at nonlethal levels, for obvious reasons.

"I've been working with Weymire- the one from the _Crisis,_ I mean- and Trip on a way to produce the chroniton radiation. We think we might be able to modify the deflectors on both ships to emit a chroniton pulse. That should be enough to drive out the Pah-Wraiths without harming them.

"I've also provided both Weymire and Trip with the necessary information to create shielding against the Pah-Wraiths. They can take and control just about any humanoid host. It's imperative that we don't let that happen."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Aracane asked. The Doctor, who was sitting next to her, nudged her to be quiet.

Daniels continued, ignoring what Aracane said. "This will take about two days to do. In the meantime, I suggest you all return to your duties."

"What time does the wormhole lead to?" Malcolm asked. "And where does it go?"

"The beginning of the twenty-second century, outside the Bajoran system," Daniels replied. "So we would have to travel through another anomaly to get to the right time, or wait fifty years or so to stop Calari. As for the _Crisis,_ when we've dealt with Calari, the Temporal Agency will take them back to their time."

"And if we fail?" Seven countered.

Daniels face became grim. "Then the timeline will never be returned to its original state. And this will have been for nothing."

. . .

Both ships approached the wormhole at impulse. They then slowly came to a halt about two thousand kilometres away from the wormhole.

 _On the Enterprise..._

"Alright," Archer said. "Hoshi, signal the _Crisis_ that we're ready."

"Understood," Hoshi said. In a moment, she continued, "they're ready as well."

"Here goes nothing," Archer commented. "T'Pol, activate the deflector."

T'Pol nodded and complied. Both ships began charging up their deflectors.

"Sir, we're being hailed. It's from the wormhole. Audio only," Hoshi informed.

Archer nodded and Hoshi activated the speakers.

 _"You were warned. You will pay the price for your contamination of our wormhole. Prepare to die, primitive corporeal beings."_

"We just need to go through your wormhole," Archer told the Pah-Wraiths. "We need to get back to our time."

The Pah-Wraiths said after a moment, _"That... is irrelevant! You will be destroyed!"_

Then the transmission ended. Daniels, who was also on the bridge, commented, "Like I said. They exist outside of time. They don't know what it is."

"Yeah, we stumped them, I got that," Archer replied dismissively. "T'Pol, status?"

"The deflectors are at seventy percent and rising," T'Pol told him. She then looked at the sensors. "The wormhole is emitting high amounts of theta-radiation. The levels are rising. Captain, that radiation wasn't there earlier. It's being directed at us. If it reaches us at these levels, we will die."

Archer looked at Daniels, who looked back at him. Then Daniels looked at T'Pol.

"Distance?" Daniels asked.

"Three hundred kilometres and closing," she replied, raising an eyebrow. "It will arrive in two minutes."

"And the deflectors?"

"Eighty-five percent. They will be finished in one minute and twenty seconds."

"Then we have enough time." Daniels looked back at Archer. "We can still do this."

Archer nodded. "Keep it going."

"One minute, ten seconds."

"Another transmission, sir," Hoshi informed. "It's the _Crisis._ "

"On screen," Archer ordered. Mi'Ya's face appeared on the viewscreen.

"Captain Archer," she addressed.

"Something wrong?" Archer asked.

"No," Mi'Ya replied. "I just wanted to say 'Qapla.'"

"Qapla?" Archer repeated. He smiled slightly. "The Klingon word for success."

"Indeed," Mi'Ya said, also smiling.

"Fifty seconds," T'Pol informed them.

"See you on the other side, Captain pink-skin," Mi'Ya told Archer.

"You too... blue bug," Archer replied.

Then the transmission then ended.

"The theta-radiation is two hundred kilometres away," T'Pol informed them. "We have thirty seconds until the deflector is up to full power... twenty-five... twenty... fifteen... ten... five, four, three, two, one."

"Put the wormhole on screen," Archer ordered.

The wormhole appeared on the viewscreen. Two beams of light from the deflectors were penetrating the wormhole. Balls of fiery-coloured energy flew out of it.

"The theta-radiation is beginning to dissipate," T'Pol said. "It will be safe to go through soon."

Archer smiled. "Let's hope it stays that way."

. . .

 _Some time later..._

The ships were on the other side of the wormhole, traveling at Warp 4. They managed to make it through the wormhole. While they put as much distance between them and the wormhole as they could, they held a ceremony.

 _On the Crisis... in the mess hall..._

Archer, holding a box in his hands, stood next to Mi'Ya in the center of the mess hall, with the senior officers of both crews crowded around them. Some of the junior officers were there as well, while the others were on duty.

"We are here for three things," Archer spoke, looking at the senior officers. "To mourn for the people the _Crisis_ had lost. To witness the promotion of its first officer. And to remind everyone of our mission." He looked over at Mi'Ya. "Commander Shran, if you please."

Mi'Ya nodded, then stepped forward and said, "We lost a quarter of our crew. Including our Captain. We can't bring them back. But we can honour them by continuing our mission."

Archer nodded. "That's the same mission that we _all_ must continue until we confront Calari. To explore new worlds. New civilisations. To boldly go where no one has gone before." He turned to Mi'Ya. He opened the box in his hand, and reached in. He pulled out a pin. Then he set the box down on the table next to them and put the pin on Mi'Ya's shirt.

"Mi'Ya Shran of the _U.S.S. Crisis,"_ Archer spoke, "it is my privilege to make you Captain of your ship."

Mi'Ya smiled lightly and saluted him. Archer saluted back.

. . .

 **Originally these two stories were called "The Project, Parts 1 & 2", but I decided to rename them as simply "Pilot" and combine them into one chapter.**

 **Summary for the next story, "Shadows, Part One": It turns out that there were dormant nanoprobes residing in Phlox's body. He makes first contact with Unimatrix Zero. Note: Episode Two has been removed temporarily for rewriting.**

 **Note: I don't own "Faith of the Heart." I only used the lyrics for Vic to sing in the one scene. The song is owned by Rod Stewart.**

 **P. S. Also, I noticed a loophole earlier in the chapter regarding Jhamel. I made an explanation that she had optical implants to see (since the Anear are blind). The same explanation will be used for Star Trek: The Letter. Just figured I should mention this.**

 **P. S. S. It'll probably take a few days to write the next chapter. Please don't kill me!**

 **Anyway, if there were any other loopholes (other than the one I spotted) in this chapter, please tell me. :)**


	2. Episode II: Shadows, Part One

**Here's the next chapter of** ** _Star Trek: Timeline_** **! Lol! Hope you all liked the previous chapter. :)**

 **Now to reply to Gatherer's review: Glad you found it interesting! :) I had to fix a minor loophole in one part, though. It's hard to keep track of them. Hope you like this chapter, too, though.**

 **P. S. Just to let you know, since the Doctor and Phlox are both major characters in this chapter, I'd like to point out that whenever I write "the Doctor", I'm referring to the Doctor from Voyager _,_ who was transferred to the Crisis sometime after Star Trek: Voyager ended. I will refer to Phlox as either "Phlox" or a pronoun, of course. Just wanted to prevent confusion.**

 **P. S. S. Also, this story was inspired by cojack's story _Disconnect._ I highly recommend _Disconnect_ , it's a very intriguing story.**

 **P. S. S. S. I rewrote a good part of this episode and lengthened it a lot too. Hopefully you guys and gals like.**

 **Now that all that's over with, here we go!**

. . .

 _Episode II: Shadows, Part One_

Phlox sat up in bed, sweating. He had another dream. It was about Seven of Nine, again. It had been a little over a week since _Enterprise_ and the _Crisis_ teamed up together. In that time Phlox made numerous visits to the _Crisis,_ talking with the crew, meeting new species. Seven of Nine was particularly fascinating to Phlox. But she was rather elusive towards him. He got the impression that she didn't like him too much. Still, she fascinated him. He wondered how she got those cybernetics. Why she seemed somewhat isolated from the others.

"So much for my yearly hibernation," Phlox muttered. He walked into his bathroom and turned on the sink faucet. He went his hands and wiped them on his face, looking in the mirror as he did so. Then he noticed. His carotid artery was coloured a shade of blackish-purple, an unnatural colour for a Denobulan. Phlox walked out of his quarters and headed to Sickbay.

In a few minutes, he was there. Phlox grabbed a scanner from the nearest medical tray and started scanning himself. In a moment, he looked at the readings. His eyes widened at the results. "No... not possible..."

. . .

"Why are we _both_ going to Phlox's Sickbay?" Seven asked.

"You'll know in a minute," the Doctor replied hastily, ushering her down the hall. Seven of Nine and the Doctor approached Phlox's Sickbay doors. When they entered, they saw Archer and Mi'Ya talking to Phlox.

"Wait. So there were nanoprobes that survived the radiation-"

Archer was interrupted by Phlox, who was saying, "Yes. It seems that some had adapted, and went into a dormant state when I bombarded myself with the radiation. Now it seems something has woken them up."

"It can't have been the chroniton radiation that reactivated them," Mi'Ya said. "These symptoms would have appeared sooner."

Seven and the Doctor approached the trio, hearing every word.

"Nanoprobes?" Seven repeated. She looked at Phlox. "How did you obtain these nanoprobes? Were you assimilated?"

Phlox looked at her. So did Archer. Mi'Ya told them, "She's referring to the Borg. A... collective of thousands of species all fitted with cybernetics and connected by a hive mind."

"We encountered such a group a few years ago," Archer said. "Phlox was infected with their nanoprobes. They tried to... assimilate him, as you put it."

"That shouldn't be possible." Seven looked at Archer with a puzzled expression. "Humanity as a whole never encountered the Borg until 2365. When Q threw Captain Picard and his crew 7,000 light-"

"We don't need a history lesson, Seven," Mi'Ya interrupted. "What we need is to stop the nanoprobes before they can assimilate Phlox."

Phlox was staring at Seven intently. The latter looked over at him, puzzled. "Is there something wrong?"

"You were Borg, weren't you?" Phlox asked in a low voice. "That's why you have those cybernetics."

Archer looked at Seven as well. "Well?"

"Yes," Seven told them, "I was a Borg drone at one time. For most of my life. Captain Janeway was able to sever my connection to the Collective, and I eventually learned how to be an individual."

 _"Whoever Janeway is,"_ Phlox thought. Suddenly he heard another voice in his head.

 _"What does he mean by that?"_ Seven stared at him. "What did you say?"

"What?" Phlox frowned in confusion. "I didn't say anything."

"I'm certain you did," Seven insisted.

"I'm certain I didn't," Phlox insisted right back.

"Enough!" Archer and Mi'Ya ordered at the same time. They looked at each other, then shook their heads.

Archer said, "Just figure out what's going on, and find a way to stop it. I'll be on the bridge." With that, he walked out without another word.

Mi'Ya stood uncertainly, antennae twitching, then said, "Uh, ditto. See you later, pink-skin, pale-skin, and pink-photons." She was referring to Seven, Phlox, and the Doctor respectively. All stared at her as she walked out.

After a moment, Phlox asked, "Pink- _photons?_ I suppose that's a reference to the fact you're a hologram."

"Yes," the Doctor replied, frowning. "Exactly that."

. . .

 _In Archer's ready room..._

 _"Captain's Star Log, May 7th... would I still say 2156? Or 2104? Who knows._

 _"Anyway, it turns out Phlox still has some nanoprobes running around in his body. They've lain dormant for the past few years, and something has activated them. Phlox, the Doctor, and Seven are working on the problem now. They-"_

A beep from Archer's door interrupted him.

"Computer, pause log," Archer ordered. "Enter!"

The door slid open and Daniels came in. "Archer. I need to talk to you."

"Sit down," Archer said, gesturing to a nearby chair. Daniels sat down, rubbing his hands nervously.

"What's the problem?" Archer looked at the time traveler with a concerned expression. He may not like Daniels all that much, but they needed him.

"It's... I have an illness," Daniels admitted.

"Phlox is a bit busy at the moment. So is the EMH or whatever he's called."

"Not the kind that can be cured," Daniels said. "It's hereditary. A degenerative disease of the brain."

"What kind of degenerative disease?" Archer asked, confused. Why was Daniels telling him this.

"Clarke's disease." Daniels couldn't even look at Archer in the eye now. "Phlox diagnosed me for it a few days ago. I told him not to tell you. That I'd do it myself. As you know, it's very hard to catch the signs of Clarke's disease. Even in the 31st century, we can't diagnose it right away due to its nature. And it's still incurable."

"I'm sorry," Archer said. He felt empathy for Daniels. Archer had lost his father to the same disease. "But what does this have to do with me?"

"Everything," Daniels replied. "We don't know how long it will take before we can get back to 2156 to stop Calari. I could be dead by then. I can't help you if I'm..." He stopped speaking, unable to finish.

"I understand," Archer said. "Maybe you can show me how to use the data module? Just... just in case."

 _. . ._

 _In Sickbay..._

The Doctor hummed a tune as he examined under a microscope some of the nanoprobes he extracted from Phlox. Meanwhile Seven was attempting to coax Phlox, who was sitting on a biobed, to eat a plate of something. More specifically, the "nutritional supplements" she always eats.

"Dr. Phlox, you must eat," Seven told him. "Your immune system will function more effectively if you supply your body with nutrients."

"I know that. I'm a Doctor, not a five year-old. I'm just not hungry," Phlox replied. _"Actually, this made me lose my appetite."_

"You find nutritional supplements unappealing?" Seven asked. _"This Denobulan is increasingly irritating."_

"Irritating!" Phlox exclaimed, somewhat annoyed himself. "I'll tell you who's being irritating! You!"

"I did not say you were irritating."

"Yes you did."

"No, I did not."

"I heard you."

"I don't understand."

"Enough," the Doctor called, walking over to them. "You know what's really irritating? The fact that I have to work in this primitive Sickbay instead of my own! I can't contact the _Crisis_ and ask them to beam over my equipment and waste transporter power!"

"Then have someone bring it personally!" Seven and Phlox snapped at the same time.

The Doctor eyed them curiously, for the moment not thinking about his predicament. "Are you two alright?"

"Yes," Seven replied. At the same time Phlox said, "No." The two glared at each other.

The Doctor let out an annoyed sigh. "Never mind. I'll just contact the _Crisis_ and have them deliver my equipment personally." With that he walked away, going back to the sample, and tapped his combadge to ask about his equipment.

 _"That was... amusing,"_ Phlox thought.

Seven stood, considering a moment. _"Can you hear me? Do not say anything. Just nod yes if you can hear me."_

Phlox nodded in confirmation.

 _"It seems we are connected,"_ Seven continued, _"likely due to your nanoprobes reactivating. We have been hearing each other's thoughts and we did not know it until now."_

 _"That explains a lot,"_ Phlox replied. _"It's not that surprising, really. When the Borg attempted to assimilate me, I was temporarily connected to the hive mind."_

 _"Also not surprising,"_ Seven replied. "You should eat soon," she said aloud. "I will get something more appealing from the mess hall."

Phlox nodded in reply. "Yes. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Seven said.

As she walked out of Sickbay and past the Security guards posted outside, she heard Phlox ask telepathically, _"What is your real name? Seven of Nine isn't, I'm sure."_

 _"That is... rather personal,"_ Seven told him.

 _"My apologies. I didn't mean to intrude."_

 _"Apology accepted."_

. . .

 _In Archer's ready room..._

"You almost hit the self-destruct," Daniels pointed out as Archer tried to figure out the basics of the data module. Which weren't so basic.

"Relax, Daniels. I didn't touch it."

"But you almost did."

"But I didn't. And I know now not to touch that button," Archer pointed out.

"Suppose you forget?"

Archer glared at the stubborn time traveler. "Okay, spit it out. What's the problem?"

"Problem?"

"Yes, problem. Ever since you told me you have Clarke's disease, you've been giving me a lot of attitude. It's like working with a teenager on a sugar rush."

"Is that supposed to insult me, Jonathan?"

Archer let out an irritated sigh. "Never mind. Let's get back to work."

. . .

 _In the mess hall..._

 _"Make a decision Phlox,"_ Seven told him telepathically is she looked at the contents of the shelf in the mess. There were sandwiches, pies, cakes, salads, soups, chicken wings, sushi, pasta, etc. _"I do not have all day."_

 _"Give me a moment. Hm..."_

Seven began tapping her foot impatiently.

 _"The sushi. Get the sushi,"_ Phlox said. _"Please."_

Seven picked up a plate of sushi.

 _"Thank you,"_ Phlox said.

 _"You're welcome,"_ Seven replied. Just as she was about to edit the mess hall, a voice from a table called to her.

"Hey, cyborg lady!" Seven turned to see Shran, Jhamel, and Hoshi eating at a table. Both women were glaring at the Andorian as though he shouted a swear word.

"Do you require something?" Seven asked. _"Species 61574. First assimilated in 2279. They displayed much smug and arrogant behaviour before assimilation. Their technological distinctiveness was worth it, however."_

 _"That's very reassuring,"_ Phlox responded sarcastically. Seven ignored the remark.

"Would you like to join us for lunch?" Shran asked.

"No, thank you," Seven replied. "I already have plans." Then she walked out without another word.

. . .

 _In Sickbay..._

"I may have found what's caused the nanoprobes to reactivate," the Doctor announced to Phlox as he studied a computer screen. "It seems the nanoprobes were stimulated by Seven's close presence." He walked over to Phlox. "I don't suppose you two have been hearing each other's thoughts, hm?"

"Yes," Phlox replied. "We have. For the past half an hour."

"I see." The Doctor thought a moment, then looked around. "Where is she anyway?"

"At the mess hall, getting something for me to eat," Phlox replied. "I still don't see why you won't let me assist you."

"Because I like to work _alone,_ as I said before," the Doctor told him.

Phlox raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Okay." The Doctor let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't trust you not to go berserk on me and destroy my progress and go assimilate everyone on both ships."

"Hm."

"Hm, what?"

"I was just thinking," Phlox said.

"About what?" The Doctor was frustrated at this point.

"I thought you might want to take my place."

The Doctor stared at him incredulously. "And why in the universe would I want to do that?"

Phlox gave him a strange look. "We are Borg."

"What?"

Phlox shook his head. "Sorry. It must be the nanoprobes-"

At that moment, Seven came in, holding the plate of sushi. "One order of sushi."

The Doctor looked over at her. "Oh, good, you're here! I made a breakthrough with Phlox's condition. I may have a way to stop the nanoprobes, but I'll need your help to do it."

"Explain," Seven ordered, walking over to them.

"It seems your presence has stimulated the nanoprobes in Phlox," the Doctor said. "I thought perhaps I could extract some of your nanoprobes, reprogram them, and inject them into Phlox. They would then reprogram Phlox's nanoprobes and stop the assimilation process."

Seven considered a moment.

 _"Seeing as the radiation didn't destroy all of them initially,"_ Phlox told her telepathically, _"I think this is worth the risk. If it doesn't work... do what you have to do."_

Seven nodded. "Let us proceed."

. . .

Seven winced as the Doctor took some nanoprobes from her arm with a specialised hypospray. The Doctor tapped some buttons on the hypospray, then turned to Phlox and said, "Hold out your arm."

Phlox nodded and complied. The Doctor injected Phlox with the nanoprobes. At that moment, Archer and Mi'Ya entered Sickbay.

"You said you had a cure?" Archer asked.

"We'll know soon enough," the Doctor replied, setting the hypospray on a medical tray. Seven sat down on the biobed across from Phlox.

Mi'Ya nodded. She turned to Archer and said, "Perhaps we should return to our duties, pink-skin. We're hardly needed here."

"Agreed," Archer said. He looked over at Phlox and said, "Get better soon."

Then the two captains exited Sickbay.

The Doctor crossed his arms and muttered, "A thank you might have been nice."

. . .

 _In Archer's ready room, a few days later..._

 _"Captain's Star Log, May 11th, 2156,_

 _"I've decided to stick with 2156, just to give me a piece of home to hold onto. I guess._

 _"Anyway, Phlox is all better, thanks to the EMH. Within two days, he was able to return to work. Though he did spend the last few days catching up on his hibernation. As for Seven of Nine, well, she's her usual impassive self. That woman could be a double for a Vulcan._

 _"Daniels is doing alright, despite his condition. He's showing me how to use the data module, like he promised. And it's pretty easy so far. Despite the fact that I almost hit the self-destruct. But he told me we have yet to get to the more complicated procedures._

 _"Another thing. Lately Porthos has been having... uh... bowel issues. When Phlox is done hibernating, I'll take Porthos to see him._

 _"End log."_

Archer stood up from his chair and walked over to Porthos' bed. The little beagle saw him coming over and raised his head, wagging his tail excitedly. He enjoyed getting attention. Archer bent down and pet his dog's head.

"As if time travel wasn't bad enough, eh?" Archer asked Porthos. Porthos tilted his head as though to agree. Archer let out an amused chuckle and looked out the window of his ready room. As the stars streamed across, he wondered what other insane adventures awaited them in the future. Or in this case, the past.

"What else do you think is out there, boy?" Archer continued. Porthos merely nudged the man's hand, wanting more attention.

. . .

 _In Phlox's quarters..._

Phlox lay in bed, sleeping. It wasn't exactly peaceful, though. He was dreaming again. At least, it seemed he was.

Phlox was dreaming that he was standing in the middle of a large room. It was dark, lit by only a few green consoles. Suddenly the lights came on. In front of him was a small chamber, big enough for a person. He stepped forward, intending to examine it, when it opened without warning. He stepped back in surprise.

Out of the chamber came a woman fitted with many cybernetics all over her body. She looked at Phlox and smiled. "Hello, Phlox."

"How do you know my name?" Phlox asked.

"We all know each other in the Collective. Our thoughts, our memories, our dreams," the woman replied. Suddenly the scene changed. Now they were in a rain forest. It was close to evening, though the sun was just beginning to set. Phlox looked around at his surroundings, astonished.

When he looked back at the woman, her cybernetics were gone. She had shoulder-length red hair, pale skin, and a black shirt with matching pants. He noticed a strange earing on her ear and the ridges on her nose.

"What...?" Phlox stared at her.

"Welcome to Unimatrix Zero, Dr. Phlox."

"Unimatrix Zero?" Phlox asked. "I don't understand..."

"Of course you don't," the woman replied. "It's always hard for new arrivals such as yourself."

There was a rustling in the brush to Phlox's right. He jerked his head in that direction and called, "Who's there?!" A woman stepped out, and Phlox recognised her immediately, despite her different appearance. "Seven! What's going on here? And why do you look so... human?" Her implants were gone and she was wearing a light blue long sleeved with a pair of jeans. Her straight blond hair hang loosely. She wore sneakers instead of heels, making her shorter.

Seven looked at Phlox, bewildered. Then she turned to the other woman. "How is he here? He shouldn't... can't be here. This shouldn't be possible."

"What do you mean?" the woman demanded, crossing her arms.

"He was not assimilated into the Collective," Seven replied. "Not entirely. He managed to destroy most of the nanoprobes before they could assimilate him entirely. The rest lay dormant for a time. My presence somehow reactivated them. But we managed to deactivate them before they could finish their task. How he managed to get here is... I don't know how this could have happened."

Phlox raised an eyebrow of his own. "Oh? And I suppose this magically happened? There must be an explanation. If you can't find it, I will."

"Annika, did your 'friend' just make a threat?" the woman asked.

"Doctor Phlox," Seven (or Annika) addressed, "this is the last night of your hibernation, correct?"

"Yes," Phlox replied, startled. She must have known his schedule through their temporary telepathic link. "Why?"

"Then when it is over, you won't have to see Unimatrix Zero again," Seven told him. "Until then, I suggest you find a way to bide your time."

"Such as?" Phlox asked, sitting down on a nearby rock. Seven did the same on a log.

"Talking, maybe," the other woman suggested. "I dunno." She glanced at Seven and said, "I need to be going in a moment. My husband is expecting me. I'll see you again tomorrow night."

Seven nodded. The woman walked off without another word. There was a brief silence between Phlox and Seven. Finally, Phlox asked, "What species is she?"

"Bajoran," Seven replied simply. After a moment, she continued, "This... must be strange for you."

"It is," Phlox said. He looked down at his feet, then back up at Seven. "What is Unimatrix Zero?"

"A sanctuary for those with the recessive gene. Those who have been assimilated. Like me," Seven told him. "I honestly thought I'd never see it again."

"You've been here before?"

"Yes. Numerous occasions. But that is in the past. Or the future. Never mind. I'm not about to pretend to understand time travel."

"What happened to Unimatrix Zero?" Phlox asked. "In your time?"

"It was destroyed," Seven replied.

Phlox let out a sigh. Then he said, "You seem so... so..."

"More human?" Seven asked. "Yes, I suppose I do. In some ways."

"Your name is Annika?"

"Yes. It was. Is."

Phlox nodded. "Why did you stop using it?"

"I..." Seven thought a moment. "I don't know." After a moment, she stood up, extended her hand to him, and asked, "Do you want to see the settlement?"

"Yes," Phlox replied, taking her hand. "Yes. I would."

 _. . ._

 _In the holodeck..._

Vic Fontaine, who was standing onstage about to play a song, frowned when he saw T'Pol enter his restaurant. The female Vulcan made her way to a table and sat down. Normally he never had a Vulcan visitor. So it surprised him to see one now. Vic shook his head and started his next song.

"And a one, and a two..."

Well, he would have started if T'Pol hadn't said, "Computer, deactivate all holodeck characters except Vic Fontaine."

Every character promptly disappeared, except for Vic. Who was staring with his mouth open in surprise. "Really now! The one time I get a Vulcan chick here and she has to ruin the evening!" He stepped down from the stage and walked over to her. "Okay, what's the matter? Pretty Vulcan gal walks in and cuts my evening short? There better be a good reason for this."

T'Pol shifted uncomfortably. "Perhaps I should return at a more convenient time." She rose to leave when Vic objected.

"Now, now! I'm sorry, okay? What's wrong?" Vic thought a moment. "Wait, I don't even know your name."

"T'Pol," T'Pol told him. "My name is T'Pol."

"T'Pol," Vic repeated. "Okay, T'Pol. Sit down, and let's chat."

The female Vulcan nodded and sat back down promptly. Vic sat in the chair across from her.

"So... uh, why are you here?"

"I needed... advice. Your captain said you would be helpful," T'Pol explained.

"Ever since Finn Rya died, I've been this ship's 'counselor'," Vic muttered. "Well, I guess you came to the right place. What's the problem?"

"I recently... recently..."

"Yes?"

T'Pol gulped. "This is harder in front of someone I do not know."

Vic raised an eyebrow. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were embarrassed."

"I am."

Vic stared a moment, speechless. Then he started laughing. He never expected a Vulcan to feel any emotions whatsoever. So naturally he found this amusing.

T'Pol was not so amused. "If you cannot take me seriously, perhaps I should take my problems somewhere else."

"Sorry," Vic said, stopping his laughter. He looked at T'Pol and said, "I'll stop."

"Thank you," T'Pol replied. "I've been having relationship issues."

"Relationship issues?"

"Yes."

Vic stared at her with a puzzled expression. A Vulcan with relationship issues?

"I recently broke up with a man named Trip," T'Pol said quickly. She closed her eyes as though she regretted it.

"Trip?" Vic repeated. "Oh, yeah. He was in here yesterday. He was havin' problems too."

T'Pol opened her eyes and stared at Vic intently. "What sort of problems?"

Vic frowned. "Uh, that would be breakin' counselor-patient confidentiality. Sorry."

T'Pol leaned forward with a dark, aggressive gaze in her eyes. "What sort of problems?"

Vic let out a sigh. "Don't do anything stupid, like try to delete me. You'll get locked up in the brig. Now, as I said before, I can't break confidentiality."

"Fine," T'Pol muttered, leaning back.

"Now tell me what happened."

"It was a long time ago. 2155. After our daughter died that year..."

. . .

 _In Unimatrix Zero..._

Phlox and Seven walked through the "settlement," as Seven called it, occasionally talking with some of the people who were there. Old men and women, young men and women, children. Many were of different species. Phlox even saw a Klingon among them, but he didn't approach him.

"So, Seven," Phlox said as they approached the edge of the settlement, "how long have you been visiting Unimatrix Zero? In this time, I mean."

"Ever since we arrived in this time," Seven replied, then she stopped walking. In front of them was a fence with some cattle- namely cows- who hardly glanced at them before returning to grazing.

Phlox halted as well. He surveyed the lazy cattle a moment before looking at Seven. "You never said anything to anyone?"

"When we leave Unimatrix Zero," Seven spoke, "we don't remember what's happened here. Not until we reenter the Unimatrix."

"I see," Phlox replied. He leaned against the fence and looked up at the sky. "It's getting dark."

"Our regeneration cycles are almost over, anyway," Seven said. "And your hibernation should end soon as well."

"It's a shame we'll wake up with no memory of this place," Phlox told her. He looked back at her. A thoughtful expression was on her face. "Seven?"

"Maybe you'll remember," she said. "I don't know. But your presence here shouldn't be possible. Perhaps whatever is causing it will also allow you to retain your memories of this place, even when you leave. It's only a theory."

"You never know," Phlox replied thoughtfully. "You never know."

. . .

 **Rewrite is finished! Reviews appreciated!**

 **Next chapter is "Episode III: Shadows, Part Two". Summary: Enterprise and the Crisis encounter an aggressive alien race that has been ravaged by civil war for 5,000 years. Meanwhile, Daniels struggles with an onslaught of hallucinations that shouldn't even be happening yet. Phlox investigates Unimatrix Zero further. T'Pol tries to reconcile with her relationship with Trip.**

 **P. S. I'll try to finish _Star Trek: The Letter,_ but I'm having writer's block with it. Ideas?**


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